CreatureData

Little heron

Butorides atricapilla (Afzelius, 1804)

Status not recordedbirds

The little heron (Butorides atricapilla) is a species in the family Ardeidae, order Pelecaniformes. Source checklists list it for 1 country: Australia.

No freely licensed photo yet

Quick facts about the little heron

Weight
Not recorded
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
Not recorded
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
Not recorded
Young per litter or clutch
Not recorded
Conservation status
Not recorded
Countries on record
1 countrysrc for Countries on record

Where does the little heron live?

Countries where Catalogue of Life checklists list the species. Many checklists carry no country data, so the list is often incomplete. It is not a range map.

The little heron is listed for 1 country.

Australia
  • Listed
  • Not listed
small islands are not drawn at this scale

The same countries as a list

  1. Australia

Is the little heron endangered?

No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.

How is the little heron classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderPelecaniformes
  5. familyArdeidae
  6. genusButorides
  7. SpeciesButorides atricapilla (Afzelius, 1804)

Synonyms Ardea atricapilla

Other names and names in other languages (27)
  • Eurasian striated heronEnglish
  • Old World green-backed heronEnglish
  • Old World striated heronEnglish
  • Striated heronEnglish
  • بلشون مخطط أوراسيArabic
  • Kleiner MangrovenreiherGerman
  • mangrova ardeoEsperanto
  • Garcilla Verdosa MenorSpanish
  • KyyryhaikaraFinnish
  • Héron des mangrovesFrench
  • אנפית מנגרוביםHebrew
  • ササゴイJapanese
  • 검은댕기해오라기Korean
  • småhegreNorwegian Bokmål
  • MangrovereigerDutch
  • czapla czarnoczubaPolish
  • garça-de-cabeça-negraPortuguese
  • ruonáháigirNorthern Sami
  • čaplička čiernohlaváSlovak
  • mangrovehägerSwedish
  • นกยางเขียวThai
  • 绿鹭Chinese
  • Garcilla menorSpanish
  • Kayali des mangrovesFrench
  • grönhägerSwedish
  • 綠簑鷺Chinese
  • 綠鷺Chinese

Catalogue of Life

Relatives of the little heron

Other species in the same genus Butorides.

Gaulin

Butorides virescens

ArdeidaeNo free photo yet

Lava heron

Butorides sundevalli

ArdeidaeNo free photo yet

CompareLittle heron vs Striated heronLittle heron vs GaulinLittle heron vs Lava heron

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

Where does the little heron live?

Catalogue of Life checklists list the little heron for 1 country: Australia. Checklist coverage is uneven, so the true range may be wider.

What kind of animal is the little heron?

The little heron (Butorides atricapilla) belongs to the family Ardeidae in the order Pelecaniformes.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

Embed a card for this animal on your own site

Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.

Preview the card

APA

CreatureData. (2026). Little heron (Butorides atricapilla). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/little-heron

MLA

“Little heron (Butorides atricapilla).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/little-heron.

BibTeX
@misc{little_heron_2026,
  title = {Little heron (Butorides atricapilla)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/little-heron},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}